My Cheap Cyclocross Bike

Welcome to My Cheap Cyclocross Bike blog.  The title gives you a hint at what you are about to be subjected to reading.  I will be building a high quality cyclocross bike built with new parts for as little cash outlay as possible, and I will document everything I do right here.  I will go through my decision making process for everything I buy.  I will show you how I source what parts and from where.  I will also show you my actual costs including taxes and shipping where applicable.

Why Am I Doing This?!
To put it simply, because I barely have a budget and I want the best possible 'crosser for the money.   I could go out and buy a pretty cheap, complete cyclocross bike like a Motobecane, Nashbar's CX, or I could convert an older used road bike, but that's not what I want.  The reason I am not doing that is because I just don't see the long term value in those econo-built bikes and I believe that I can build my own modern bike for similar cost, but with much higher quality components.  Really, I have nothing against those other budget bikes, but it's not the path I'm pedaling right now.

Goals
I really want a Ridley X-Fire.  But right now, that is not going to happen.  My budget is about half of what a X-Fire frameset alone costs.  My target is to build the complete bike for $900 or less and have it built in time for the Syracuse Grand Prix Cross on October 16, 2011.  If I can't get it together within this 2 month window I'll have to resort to racing my ancient hardtail Haro MTB.  I really want to avoid that.

Some Further Explanation
I have a secondary reason for building my own bike rather than buying one off the shelf.  Building my own bike allows me to pick components that I can eventually migrate to a better bike down the road.  For example:  I might choose a very cheap shifter/brake set for now but also buy an expensive brake set like Avid's Shorty Ultimate.  When I can finally swing that X-Fire frameset, I can stick the Shorty Ultimate brakes onto that build.

The thought here being that some components will stay with the cheap bike and become a backup/training rig to complement my (eventual) Ridley.  I will go into more detail later on, but I am actually building two CX bikes right now, with an eye towards a third dream bike later on.  To understand more of what I am doing, you'll have to read the next post!

-Chris